This easy cassoulet recipe is loaded with beans, veggies, Andouille sausage, and chicken! The perfect one pot meal for those cold wintry nights!
What Is Cassoulet?
A cassoulet is a slow-cooked stew or casserole that contains both meat and beans. The origin is French, and the name comes from the pot it was cooked in (a cassole). It is meant to be eaten with good crusty bread to sop up all the sauce and juices and it pairs beautifully with a full-bodied wine.
Traditional cassoulet is often made with some sort of rich-tasting fat like duck fat and it usually has beans that have been soaked overnight. Ingredients may vary from region to region or even household to household, but a cassoulet is ALWAYS made by cooking ingredients in layers and bringing them all together at the end.
If you’d rather skip cooking tips, suggestions, handy substitutions, related recipe ideas – and get straight to the Cassoulet Recipe– simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
How To Cook Cassoulet
Traditionally Cassoulet is rich tasting and time-consuming. While I imagine the taste is stupendous, most of us have a limited amount of time to put towards our family meal. This easy cassoulet recipe does not compromise on flavor, but the method is much simpler.
This recipe starts by browning some smoked sausage. I like using andouille sausage because I love the flavor and the spice, but a regular smoked sausage, chicken or turkey sausage or kielbasa will work just fine. Once the sausage has browned it is removed and set aside. Chicken is added next. I like to use chicken tenders for this recipe. I like how quickly they brown and I think it is easy to dice them into similar size pieces (having everything the same size, ensures even cooking). A mix of vegetables is cooked after the chicken along with a white bean such as Great Northern Beans (although any bean would work). Chicken broth and tomato paste are brought to a simmer and the chicken and sausage are returned to the pan.
I topped my cassoulet with a breadcrumb mixture just before it goes into the oven. The cassoulet will stay in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and bubbles around the edges. The breadcrumbs should be perfectly toasted at this point.
Can Cassoulet Be Frozen?
Yes! If you find yourself with a big batch of cassoulet, store any leftovers in an airtight container and place in the freezer for 2- 4 months.
Cassoulet can also be made 24 hours in advance as well. Prepare as directed, however, add the breadcrumb mixture just before baking.
This cassoulet recipe isn’t the only stew to try. Check out This Southwestern Chicken Stew, or this Ropa Vieja recipe1
Yield: 6
Easy Cassoulet Recipe
This easy cassoulet recipe is loaded with beans, veggies, Andouille sausage,and chicken! The perfect one pot meal for those cold wintry nights!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb chicken tenders cut into bite sized chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz Andouille sausage, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
2 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons Italian blend seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
1 14.5 oz can Great Northern beans rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.
In a large Dutch oven or deep oven-proof skillet, heat sausage in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until browned and slightly crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add chicken to the same skillet, season with salt and cook until browned. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and set aide
Add olive oil to pan and stir in vegetables. Cook the vegetables until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in Italian blend seasoning and garlic. Add the beans, broth, tomato paste and vinegar; stir
Return chicken and sausage to pan, stirring until mixed. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer.
In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese, add olive oil and stir to coat. Sprinkle the brad crumbs over the top of the cassoulet.
Bake cassoulet for 35 minutes or until thick and bubbly.
All the ingredients for a good cassoulet can be found in most grocery stores. Purists will argue that you need to find real tarbais beans but I have found white kidney beans work just as well.
You can serve cassoulet on its own with a salad and bread on the side, but it's traditional to accompany it with something colorful . . . usually greens of some sort. If you're looking for a great meal to prepare for the colder weather, try making a cassoulet.
Cassoulet, a hearty slow-simmered stew of sausage, confit (typically duck), pork, and white beans, is one of the great hallmarks of French country cuisine. The best versions are cooked for hours until the beans and meat meld into a dish of luxuriant, velvety richness.
Usually Toulouse sausage is most commonly used in traditional french cassoulet, a sausage made from a blend of pork and duck meat. Chicken breast – I used boneless and skinless chicken breast but thighs can be substituted if that's all you have. Salt & pepper – To taste.
Conran suggests Polish kielbasa as a Toulouse substitute, but the smoky sort I use makes everything taste like a frankfurter, so I'd steer clear – basically, you need something with a very high meat content, and preferably a hefty whack of garlic.
A casserole is an easy and delicious dish that's perfect for when you are craving something warm and hearty. But they can sometimes turn out too watery. One way to thicken it is putting flour on it in order to soak up the juices and fat in the pan. Or you can make roux.
A proper cassoulet is loaded with fatty sausage, pork, duck fat, garlic, onion and salty-silky duck confit. The dish takes a full day to prepare, as the flavors are layered in and cooked low and slow. All of which is to say, cassoulet is no health food.
In the Dutch oven, arrange a layer of the bean mixture at the bottom, then the various meat, broth, and wine. End with remaining beans. Cover the top with breadcrumbs and dot with 3 tablespoons duck fat. Bake until beautifully browned and bubbly and most of the liquid has cooked away, about 1 1/2 hours.
Part of what makes cassoulet so special is the golden brown crust that forms on top of the stew near the end of the process. But when asked what forms this crust, most home cooks would probably give the wrong answer.
Convention has it that the cassoulet of Castelnaudary is based largely on pork and pork rind, sausage, and (sometimes) goose; the Carcassonne variety contains leg of mutton and (occasionally) partridge; and the cassoulet of Toulouse includes fresh lard, mutton, local Toulouse sausage, and duck or goose.
The cassoulet needs to bake uncovered to develop a crisp crust. Baking sheets All of the ingredients for a cassoulet are cooked before being combined and baked again. The meat can be cooked in any number of ways; here, the pork and lamb stew meat is roasted on rimmed baking sheets so that it browns.
I'm talking about eating andouillette, an ancient French regional sausage made from the large intestines of the noble pig. Crisped under a grill and served with a smooth, velvety potato puree and a creamy mustard sauce, it's utter heaven on a plate.
Add a ladle full of pork stock and put your cassoulet into the oven. Let it cook for 2 hours, pushing the crust down regularly. Sprinkle your breadcrumbs over the top, and let cook for the last hour unmolested. The crust is formed from the protein and collagen-rich stock mixing with the beans and crumbs.
Baby Lima Beans. Also called “butterbeans”, Baby Lima beans are small, smooth, and creamy with a rich, buttery texture. They're starchier than other beans and are often used in soups, stews, succotash, and casseroles, or just cooked simply with herbs and spices.
We have trialed numerous varieties of filet beans here at the farm. Our all-time favorite is 'Finaud'. It is always the most tender and sweetest bean in our garden, and it bears bigger crops.
Introduction: My name is Rev. Leonie Wyman, I am a colorful, tasty, splendid, fair, witty, gorgeous, splendid person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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